The present invention is generally directed to activating electronic devices at a point-of-sale (POS). Specifically, the present invention is directed to activating an electronic device at a POS following the purchase of the electronic device, wherein all information necessary for such activation is provided at the point-of-sale and the customer receives a communication with additional material information after the purchase and activation.
Electronic devices—such as mobile communications devices, personal digital assistances (PDAs), music players (for example, mp3 players) —may be sold by various retail merchants. Many of these electronic devices are inactive or unusable until they are “activated” by some party. The party activating the electronic device may be the merchant, a provider of goods or services associated with the electronic device (for example, in the case of a mobile telephone, a telecommunications carrier), or a party that maintains an account associated with the electronic device (for example, in the case of a satellite radio, Sirius/XM).
Activation generally requires at least two (2) steps: first a communication between the POS and the party activating the electronic device identifying the communication device, and second a communication between the user of the device and the associated provider of goods or services or account provider. The first step is generally an identification of the electronic device, while the second step typically involves the collection of various data from the user. The merchant and the provider of goods or services or account provider typically rely upon existing infrastructure to support such activation.
Accordingly, such activation process can be time consuming and inconvenient. Therefore, there is a need to provide an activation process for electronic devices that is secure, theft-resistant, and incorporates all activation steps and processes into a single transaction. Additionally, there is a need for an activation process that is convenient to a user of an electronic device, wherein any identification information of the user is collected at the time of sale, and no additional communications with any other party are necessary.